"Left at the next exit you will turn," or so we imagine none other than Jedi Master Yoda telling us as we attempt to pilot our land speeders toward some unknown destination. You can now download Yoda as the voice of your TomTom or Garmin GPS unit courtesy of a company named PigTones and a fee of $12.97. Not a Star Wars fan? Well, you should be (at least of the original trilogy). There's always the Terminator. On second thought, who wants to be told to make a legal U-turn by the governor of California? That leaves Stewie from The Family Guy. He's the megolomaniacal infant that's hell bent on killing his mother, Lois. There are others to choose from too, some raunchier than others. Click here for the full list.
The Mio Knight Rider GPS is coming soon to a store near you, as long as that retailer is a Radio Shack. The tech store and Mio struck an exclusive deal for the $279 navigation system, which features the original voice of KITT, William Daniels. We were able to try out the Knight Rider GPS when we had KITT in the Autoblog Garage, and it scored some extra novelty points while also working well as your standard, run of the mill nav system. Anyone who went for a ride in our KITT Shelby GT500KR tester was almost as interested in the talking nav system as the car itself. It's a little disappointing, however, that you can only get one at Radio Shack, though the sub-$300 price tag makes it all better.
The window sticker on a 2008 Navigator shows a mighty low 12 mpg in the city and only 18 on the highway, so Ford went back to the drawing board to improve on that number for this year. The Blue Oval's blinged-up luxury sled boasts a fuel friendlier average of 14/20 for 2009, a marginal improvement, but an improvement nonetheless. Ford says those numbers are good enough to put the Blue Oval at the head of the luxury SUV space that includes the Cadillac Escalade, Lexus LX570 and Nissan QX56. Ford was able to increase fuel economy by almost 15% on the big SUV by implementing some of the same engineering tricks employed on the 2009 F-150, which itself gets up to 15/21 in SFE trim. Changes were made to the idle speed and the transmission, as well as some fancy software engineering that regulates gas consumption by using aggressive deceleration fuel shut-off.
Ford also made standard several items that were previously only available as options, including a power lift gate, heated and cooled front seats, PowerFold third-row seats, cap-less fuel filler, Rear View Camera, flexible fuel-capable V-8 engine, SYNC and the stunning 14-speaker THX II-Certified audio system. The 2009 Navigator will also be available with Ford's new and improved navigation system with Travel Link. Ford hasn't announced any improvements for the Expedition, but we'd expect Ford's blue collar version of the Navigator will receive similar fuel economy enhancements.
BMW Assist -- essentially the Bavarian's version of GM's OnStar -- has made BMW Search using Google Maps available on the 1 and 3 Series. Previously, it was only available on BMW models from the 5 series up. If you subscribe to the BMW Assist Convenience Plan, you can use BMW Search to find businesses, then input the information directly into the navigation system, or call with your Bluetooth phone over the service's AT&T Mobility Network (you don't need to have AT&T, though). BMW Search joins BMW's MyInfo service, which allowed customers and businesses to send listings and street addresses directly to the car. BMW Assist is standard on 5, 6, and 7 Series, and included in the Premium Package or as a stand-alone option on all other models.
It's an epic poem that could have been written by Byron: you suffered a nasty breakup and met a new girl, you dated for a while, things were looking outstanding, you proposed... and then the bottom dropped out of the medium-duty truck business. We've seen it all before. And now that it's happened, Navistar has backed away from it's non-binding commitment to purchase GM's medium-duty truck operations. GM and Navistar only had a memorandum of understanding, so there appears to be no harm, no foul in Navistar getting icy feet. The brief announcement of the dissolution presents it as a mutual affair: "Due to significant marketplace and economic changes, GM and Navistar have decided not to renew the memorandum of understanding to purchase GM's medium duty truck business," but we imagine GM standing at the altar, watching its Navistar groom bolt from the church and hop in a taxi. GM is still talking to Navistar and looking at other ways to dump find a good home for its medium duty truck business. A shame, because they make some fine vehicles.
If you're buying an A8 this year, prepare to spend a lot of time getting to know your new MMI system. We have consistently thought that Audi's buttons-and-knob interface is the best, and it looks like they've put an entire NASA team on the job of making it better. A seven-inch TFT screen with 800x400 resolution is now controlled by an 8-position joystick. Moving from one screen to another is done via "elegant crossfades," which sounds a bit PowerPoint-ish, but we'll wait until we see it to judge. And among other improvements, navigational maps can be rendered in "birds-eye perspective" 3D, with topographical map coloration. The only thing missing is the Encyclopedia Britanica.
It's been a while since we've heard about FoMoCo's development of large rear-wheel-drive vehicles for Ford and Lincoln – no surprise considering the current climate. With fuel prices continuing their upward trajectory and CAFE standards looming on the horizon, Ford is apparently reevaluating the efficacy of offering RWD vehicles in a market starving for fuel efficient whips.
In addition to this morning's story that Ford is considering offering an EcoBoost four-cylinder on its F-150 pickup, Automotive News is reporting that Ford's use of turbocharged, direct-injected engines could expand to beyond 500,000 vehicles annually by 2012.
On the small side of the product front, Ford will likely equip the base Fiesta with a naturally aspirated 1.4-liter four-cylinder that would deliver around 40 mpg when it arrives in the U.S. in 2010. Ford is also considering a 1.0-liter, EcoBoost engine in the Fiesta, which could migrate into the Focus after 2012.
V8 engines will remain the sole source of power in Ford's large truck and SUV lineup until the end of the decade, when the EcoBoost V6 arrives and begins to expand throughout the Ford lineup. The boosted six is expected to produce between 290 and 390 hp, depending on the application, and could spell the end of bent-eights in many of Ford's range-topping products. When the redesigned Mustang arrives in 2010, Ford intends to continue its use of the 4.0-liter V6 and 4.6-liter V8, but both engines will give way to the 3.5-liter V6 and 5.0-liter V8 soon thereafter. Don't ask us why they're not rolled out at launch.
New diesels are also in the cards, including a 6.7-liter V8 (codenamed "Scorpion") currently being developed for Ford's Super Duty trucks and full-sized vans. A 4.4-liter, V8 turbo-diesel is also in the works and will find a home under the hood of the F-150, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator – assuming the two 'utes survive into the next decade.
As previously reported, Suzuki has decided to include navigation on its SX4 Sport and Crossover before you make the first mark on the options list. That will make the $15,999 car the lowest priced car in America to come standard with talking maps. And now they're set to arrive in the SX4 Special Editions that arrive in Suzuki showrooms this month.
To recap, the nav system is called TRIP -- Travel, Real-time traffic, Information, and Play -- and incorporates several Microsoft features. Drivers can get traffic info, weather reports, headline news, stock quotes, movie listings, the lowest priced gas in the area, and directions to 500 nationwide Suzuki dealerships. If buyers go for the expansion module, they'll also get Fodor guide reviews of eateries and nightlife spots. It sounds like an awful lot to do in such a little car, but that's the march of progress.
Do you often wonder why putting your foot down while driving your Ford Expedition or Lincoln Navigator doesn't deliver the response for which you'd hoped? Well, that could be because you're driving an enormous beast of a vehicle saddled with an overburdened 5.4L V8 producing 300 horsepower. Well, Saleen now has the solution for more power that Ford has not been willing to offer.
The SpeeLab division of the American tuning house has announced the availability of its Series VI twin-screw supercharger for the current-model Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator. The forced inductor, already on duty in the Saleen S331 Sport Truck, provides an extra 100 horsepower and 100 lb-ft of torque in the SUV. The result? Substantial extra pulling power, for one, while acceleration is said to be vastly improved, dropping the 0-60 run into the sixes while improving 35 - 65 mph passing times by 30 percent, all the while making a negligible impact on fuel consumption.
Most of us don't like to be yelled at while driving, but a company called IXs Rearch is betting that there must be some people out there who want a suitable replacement for the nagging spouse when they're in the car alone. The tech company has developed a high-tech teddy bear that can do everything from spout directions to yelling "Watch Out!" when you brake too fast. The "Navi-Bear" is packed with technologies that can help drivers stay safe and get from point A to point B without fuss. The robotic bear has sensors that can detect alcohol on the driver's breath, can tell you when you need to turn on your headlights, and use its robotic arm to point in the direction you're supposed to turn. If this annoying little gadget is just what you're looking for, except you're scared of stuffed animals, IXs Research is also working with other forms besides lovable bears, too. Somehow we doubt there will be a Megan Fox navigation assistant coming any time soon.
Do robotic co-pilots have a place on American roads? We hope not, but they're only a few months from being sold in Japan, and if they're a hit there, then there's a good chance they'll end up here, too. We'll be armed and ready if that ever happens.
